Painful Endeavors
by Beloved Jasmine
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto, two hunters working together for revenge against the evil King of Sound, Orochimaru. Their plan: kidnap the source of his immortality, his 'daughter' Princess Sakura. AU. Sasusaku.


Painful Endeavors

Endeavor/ Endeavour (Brit) - An attempt to achieve a goal.

Sasuke and Naruto, two hunters working together for revenge against the evil King of Sound, Orochimaru. Their plan: kidnap the source of his immortality, his 'daughter' Princess Sakura. AU. Sasusaku.

* * *

The land of Sound was a kingdom where the rich survived and the poor struggled because of a selfish ruler who lived happily in good health.

This King had never gotten an illness in his late life and his age continued to grow old yet his face became younger. The reason was his eighteen year old daughter, Sakura. She had the gift of healing. She could heal illnesses, poisonings and wounds so King Orochimaru had no chance of dying, unless of old age. Another thing Sakura's powers could do was make the person who she was healing become younger by a fortnight. This meant that Orochimaru's body got younger with every unnecessary healing Sakura performed.

However, Sakura herself was not forced to do this. She chose to heal her father but did not know anything of this ageing process. She thought the person would feel rejuvenated, not become it and did not notice the effects either. The poor all hated Orochimaru as he gave them high taxes and broke his promises of a rich country where everyone was equal.

Sakura was not selfish and healed the poor. But she was a princess so she hardly ever left the castle of Sound.

Although Sakura rarely ever asked for anything, there was something Sakura wanted in her life, and that was...

Love.

* * *

"Sakura." Her name was drawled out.

The gentle, long haired princess lifted her eyes up to gaze upon her father.

"Yes, Father?" She looked up at her 'father' obediently.

"In two days time, is the Sound Annual Ball. Later today, you shall be fitted for your dress and you will attend and set an example for those in Konoha and Suna." Her father spoke the words uncaringly even though he knew she hated the ball.

Sakura sighed. For the past five years, she had attended the ball. But every time, she would stand at the inner balcony inside the giant hall. She had to look down at everyone socialising; while she herself was stuck with guards and suitors.

"But, I don't want to go." Sakura forced the words out angrily. She knew she did not love her father, and he did not love her. But she didn't know that he only kept her because of her gift and beauty, and her dowry were she to marry. She thought he cared and worried about her, which to her was mild fatherly love. "The people all glare at me, and only the rich go."

"Little Sakura, we do have a fee so that none of the diseased scum can enter." Orochimaru pulled a face of disgust, openly disapproving of the poor.

"Everyone should be able to go. There should be no fee."

The King stood up, walking round the table towards her. She tensed her shoulders, uncomfortable and knowing what was to come.

He reached out stroked her cheek invasively. "Dear Sakura, 1000 ryo is not much to pay."

The healer moved away from his touch and stood facing him.

"Maybe not for us who are rich! You make the poor work hard upholding the nature and structure of Sound but they have high taxes. But the rich do much less, yet you give them so little taxes they can live more than comfortably! It's not fair! Anyone who wants to go, should be able to go!" She wrinkled her nose at the sight of his ugly face and stomped away.

* * *

"Teme!" A voice called loudly.

"Stupid, don't shout or we'll be noticed. What is it Naruto." It was more of an order than a question.

"I bought us two roasted fish." The blond boy smiled happily. Passing a fish to Sasuke, he bit down enthusiastically. It wasn't like the wonderful taste in Konoha, but Naruto decided it was alright.

Sasuke, however failed to appreciate the taste of peasant roasted fish and almost threw the whole thing away.

The duo were the best hunters in Konoha, known for killing the bad and helping the good.

Eighteen year old Sasuke had wonderful, perfected skills and an intelligent mind.

Naruto, who was the same age as Sasuke, had a fierce determination and had a very strong strength which could send an opponent flying.

Both had travelled to Sound on the orders of Tsunade, their Queen. Their mission was to defeat and kill Orochimaru in whatever way they saw fit. It was a revenge mission for them as over the decades he had stolen from them, wounded some of their people and murdered innocent lives. He also kept his land very secret from Konoha, breaking any chances of a peaceful allied world.

The ball was coming up and the two would sneak in and investigate.

Sasuke was about to bin the fish when a hand snapped out and stopped him.

"Sir, if you are not going to eat that, pass it over to me."

Black eyes glared down into green ones. He handed her the fish.

"Thank you." The girl who he could easily tell was a girl from her voice, skipped happily towards a group of children. Her cloak had a hood that hid her colourful locks and was long enough to cover her dress.

Their were calls of "Sakura!" and he looked to see the children hugging her as she handed them each a piece of fish. The children scoffed it down hungrily, but the girl Sakura didn't take any.

He almost jumped in surprise when Naruto punched him. Sasuke was about the hit him back when Naruto asked, "Why are there a group of people coming towards us?"

The blond hunter was indeed right. Unfortunately.

"Thank you for the fish!" The group of youngsters stared up at the fearsome hunter as they spoke their words of gratitude thankfully. Sasuke glared down at them, irritable.

"Now children, go back and help your families!" The lady from earlier ordered them. Several waves of goodbye happened and the group scattered.

"Thanks...what's your name?" The green eyed woman asked him.

"Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke. Yours is Sakura, right?"

She nodded gently. "Haruno Sakura, pleased to make your acquaintance. Do you recognise me in any way?"

Naruto raised a brow at the strange question. "Nope. Do you happen to know the way to a hotel near the castle?"

"You're seriously not from around here, are you?" She laughed, and Sasuke startled at the noise. "Yes, I do. Here, follow me."

* * *

"Wow, Sakura-chan! You seem to know the place really well!"

Sasuke glared at his over-trusting teammate. He decided to speak. "Are you going to the ball?"

The green-eyed girl answered cheerfully, albeit hesitantly. "Yes. I am going. Sadly. Are you?"

The two boys nodded.

"Can you afford the entrance fee?"

Naruto tilted his head. "There's a price?"

Sakura nodded in affirmation and walked ahead.

"How much is it?" The blond boy asked. The healer muttered the price and stood to a halt.

Sasuke analysed the place. The girl had taken them to a hotel right in front of the forest, and from the looks of it, this hotel wasn't cheap. But behind the forest you could see the castle.

She turned and faced the two handsome hunters.

"Here it is! The closest place to the castle. If you go down that large path," She pointed towards a large stone tiled path next to the hotel. "-you'll reach the castle. Come visit me at the ball in two days. Goodbye." The mysterious girl gave a wave and darted into the trees.

"Wow, she was nice." Naruto looked awed.

"Hn." Sasuke replied and entered the hotel.

* * *

'Wow!' Sakura thought. 'That was close!' She couldn't help but smile at the thought of those two lovely men.

She neared the castle and almost groaned as she thought back to how she had escaped earlier.

* * *

_'He is so irritating! Everyone should be happy! He's such a liar. Ever since he took over the country before I was born.' She sat down on her cushioned chair and stared out one of the windows of her large, circled room at the top of a tower in the castle. _

_The castle itself was white and quite large. It had purple banners placed over each and every tower and building, even the balconies. Golden music notes decorated the thin, ribbon like ended banners._

_The castle had two towers and a collection of joint buildings also attached to the towers. One tower housed Sakura, while the other housed Orochimaru. It was a stunning place with balconies and lavish gardens, but guards had posts and surrounded the castle everywhere. There was also a stone wall surrounding the castle which only had four entrances._

_Sakura knew the maids would come in three hours when it was 4pm. She could sneak out. But, what if she was caught?_

_She glanced out the window and saw the poor villages in the distance, away from the rich houses. She wanted to visit the poor again and help in any way possible. _

_Steeling her resolve, she grabbed her longest cloak out of her large wardrobe and stuffed some money into the right pocket. She slid a cased dagger into the other one for protection, too. _

_Her father wouldnt ever let her leave, for she was important and it could be dangerous for his "weak, silly and naïve daughter."_

_The clever, pink haired princess calculated that if she jumped out the window, not only would she die from the sheer height, but she would also be seen. The only way she could escape was through the back garden, past the stone wall, around the stone wall to the front of the castle, and into the forest._

_She sighed and casually slid out of her room._

* * *

It had taken an awful lot of stealth, and now she had to get to the top of the tiresome tower all over again.

Luckily, she managed to sneak in easily through a side of the wall when a civilian delivery carriage entered. She crawled under and ran into the castle when it stopped.

Running up the floors of the castle and trying to not to look suspicious was hard and exhausting. Finally, she reached last royal staircase which led into another corridor. To her left, at the end of the corridor was her father's room. But at the other end, was her own.

She pushed the double doors to her room, and entered.

Sakura's eyes widened and then narrowed into a fierce glare.

"You! What are you doing in my room?! Get out! I do not wish to speak to you!"

"Where have you been? Little Sakura."

* * *

A/N-Thanks for reading! Who do you think is in her room? And the money in this is ryo, but it's going against modern rates of what's expensive. 1000 ryo is equal to 750 USD and 491.01 GBP, which is a lot to pay if you are poor in Sound. Money is a hard problem for me in this story, so if you have any advice, kindly review me.

I've not published or updated in long time, the reason being exams, and the story I wrote on my notes was strangely deleted. It's the end of my half term holiday, so I'm unsure of when I'll next update.

Read and review please. I hope you like it. ;)


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